The Death Investigator with Barbara Butcher season 1 episode 2 - Who were the additional victims and what happened to them?

The Death Investigator with Barbara Butcher season 1 returns to a 2000 New York case that starts with one body in the East River and a fear that others may be missing. The episode centers on the identification of a man found in pajamas and the urgent search that follows for his family.

The episode titled Blood on the Eyes aired on October 4. Oxygen’s preview framed it as a race to name the victim and check reports of more victims before evidence slipped away.

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Case background in The Death Investigator with Barbara Butcher season 1

Investigators first worked to learn who the river victim was. A daughter, Teresa Leung, came to the precinct to report her parents and sister missing and recognized the clothing in the photos. The man was identified as Stephen Leung.

Teresa reports her family missing and identifies her father by clothing in photos (Image via Pexels)

Detectives then faced a larger question. If Stephen was dead, where are his wife, Chilin, and teenage daughter, Connie? According to Oxygen, pressure mounted as officers chased leads that suggested others could be in danger.

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Who were the additional victims, and what happened to them?

The additional victims initially described were Stephen’s wife, Chilin, and his daughter, Connie. Police treated both as missing after Teresa’s report. The New York Post reported at the time that all three had been unaccounted for, and that foul play was suspected in the family’s disappearance.

As the search widened, detectives located Connie alive at a YMCA with her older boyfriend, Eric Louissant. She said the pair had been staying there because her parents disapproved of the relationship. According to Oxygen, those interviews opened the door to a different picture of the case.

Statements taken by police led to a grim account of what happened inside the apartment. Stephen was strangled first after discovering Eric in Connie’s room, and then Chilin was killed later that night. ABC News reported that both victims were strangled with belts and that the couple allegedly left the bodies in the bedroom for days before disposal.

Interview from The Death Investigator with Barbara Butcher Season 1 (Image via Oxygen)

Also read: The Death Investigator with Barbara Butcher season 1 episode 1 - What was the 'domino effect of violence' in the Bronx?

The river recovery explained only part of the story. Stephen’s body surfaced near East 61st Street, wrapped and still in sleepwear. The New York Times reported that police were still searching for Chilin’s body in mid-November 2000, even as the homicide case moved forward.

Connie and Eric reportedly described late-night trips to the river with the remains. Oxygen recounts that one body was taken around 3:00 am using a shopping cart, with the second trip the next night. That timeline fits decomposition estimates made by the medical examiner’s office.

What began as a hunt for additional victims shifted into a prosecution. The New York Times reported that Connie, then 17, and Eric, 20, gave videotaped confessions. They were charged in the killings; the pair later pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. Sentencing records cited in Oxygen’s reporting show each received a 30-year term.

So, who were the additional victims? In the end, the true victims were Stephen and his wife, Chilin. Connie, once listed as missing, was found alive and later convicted alongside Eric. The early alerts about “more victims” referred to the very real possibility that more family members were dead or in danger, which proved partly true.

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Where to watch The Death Investigator with Barbara Butcher season 1

New episodes air Saturdays at 9/8c on Oxygen. Upcoming reairs for The Death Investigator with Barbara Butcher season 1 episode 2, are listed by the network for Wednesday, October 15 at 1 am and Saturday, October 25 at 12 pm ET.

The Death Investigator with Barbara Butcher Season 1 (Image via Oxygen)

Full episodes of The Death Investigator with Barbara Butcher season 1, stream on the Oxygen app, and episodes are available to buy on Amazon Video, Apple TV, and Fandango At Home.

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Also read: 5 key details about the Eric Thompson case as 'The Bucket Hat Killer' on Dateline

Edited by Preethika Vijayakumar